Tag Archives: yoga

ivivva Coast to Coast in San Francisco

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Girl power was on full display in the city by the Bay this weekend, as the ivivva Coast to Coast Festival popped up in San Francisco  at the scenic City View at Metreon. More than 250 active, stylish and energetic tween girls showed up to engage in the festivities, including the POUND workout, making it the largest class of tweens they’ve ever led!

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If you’re a fan of lululemon athletica, know that ivivva is cut from the same cloth. The brand was inspired by active girls and celebrates them, with stylish, sporty athletic wear and experiences that connect young girls through movement and aims to inspire them to dream big!

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Over the weekend in SF, ivivva offered locals fun in the sun with a tribal marker artists, a hair braiding team, photobooth, music, yoga, acro yoga, and more!

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The event also featured a yoga class co-led by 11-year old Sydney, one of the youngest certified yoga instructors in the country, and local teacher Heather McKenzie, as well as inspiring speakers from ivivva’s Dreams & Goals program including ivivva Director of Brand & Community, Allison Forsyth.

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Additionally, the girls participated in a POUND workout, the world’s first cardio jam session inspired by the infectious, energizing and sweat-dripping fun of playing the drums. So much fun for a Saturday in San Francisco! I love the idea behind this new line and I think it’s great that the younger set can be just as stylish and encouraged to workout, as their female role models (i.e. Mom, big sisters, etc…). Now if I only had a little girl…sigh! 😉

Prenatal Yoga

When I was pregnant with my first child, it was a huge educational experience. There was so much to learn about how to properly care for my unborn child (and myself) through diet and exercise, not to mention trying to absorb and digest all the information related to preparing for your newborn’s arrival! Now, when it came to the birthing process, as I started to formulate my birthing plan and consult my circle of friends on how it all worked out for their deliveries, I really started to think that I wanted it to be as natural as possible. So…of course the thing to do was sign up for a prenatal yoga class.

Now, I am not a “yoga” person… AT ALL! When it comes to exercise I prefer more active movements with loud music (to keep me awake and distracted), and I want it to go by fast! Haha! However, as I did my research I thought this would be the perfect time to give yoga a shot, because not only would it be good to help me and my body with stress, but it would also teach me helpful techniques for the natural delivery I was hoping for.

I took my first pre-natal yoga class of “Mamaste Yoga” at a yoga studio in Coconut Grove, Florida. It wasn’t bad at all, I had a great experience my first class in and I kept reminding myself about all the benefits of yoga when pregnant, especially when it comes to labor and delivery. I bought my own yoga mat and everything! 🙂 And, like I already mentioned, yoga isn’t really my thing, I had taken a semester long course while at San Jose State University, and let’s just say I was anything BUT hooked on it…so this was a positive return to a practice I had pretty much tried to leave behind!

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Basically, we worked on different breathing techniques and focusing on ways to relax and really be in touch with the baby belly. It’s kinda nice too, because all the other students in the class are also pregnant, so they’re all going through similar body changes. One thing we discussed in between stretching and breathing is the “pelvic floor.” That’s another area we concentrated on and exercised. At first I was like what!?!?! But then I figured out that contracting the “pelvic floor” is just another way of saying KEGELS! ha!!

I continued attending classes weekly up until about my 35/36 week mark. I started around 24 weeks or so… I found that I definitely benefited from learning the (deep) breathing techniques and it was very helpful when it came to finding relaxation and getting my body to calm down, especially toward the latter weeks when you’re ready to burst and feeling uncomfortable in just about any rest position you can get into… Looking back, I also liked the stretching and meditation aspects of the class.

One thing you had to be mindful of toward the end of the pregnancy was the “squat” position, because in some cases, when you get into that squat, the baby can really “drop,” and the labor process can begin! In my case, no amount of squatting was getting my baby to drop and I ended up being induced since the ultrasound was indicating I had a pretty BIG baby in there. At the end of the day, I didn’t have the natural delivery I had hoped for…but it’s okay, everybody made it out safe and sound. And these days, I really wish I could have the quiet time to stretch, breathe and meditate! OHM!!!